By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Contemporary Korean art is being introduced in Mexico City through an exhibition at the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo.
Five Korean artists ― Park Chan-kyong, Lim Min-ouk, Kim Beom, Bae Young-whan and Kim Sang-don ― were chosen to show their works at the ``Unconquered: Critical Visions from South Korea'' exhibition. It features 18 works by the Seoul-based artists, and will run through Jan. 24.
``This exhibition takes a complimentary proposition between a historical survey exhibition and an agenda-focused project. By juxtaposing some old works that contextualize each artist and their new productions, 'Unconquered' attempts to provide both a framework of understanding each artist and their recent agenda converged from new works," organizers said in a statement.
The five Korean artists, who are in their thirties and forties, have been influenced by the ``Minjung'' (People's) Art Movement of the 1980s and international art practices of the `90s.
``While varying in an aesthetic application of these two influences, these artists share the common interest that combines a local concern with the regional reality and an international concern with the public as social subjectivities,'' organizers said.
Also an art critic and teacher, Park has been interested in post-colonial awareness and critical art discourse in Korean art. He is presenting a new work, ``Black Out,'' which is composed of a video showing scanned images of North Korean seascape paintings, and seven framed photographs. He incorporated flickering shots within the sequence of North Korean images.
``The overt projection of revolutionary imagery onto the paintings on the contrary reminds me of the chronic insufficiency of energy in North Korea. These paintings perfectly serve their function by fostering the spirit of the people. On the other hand, isn't my video art wasting electricity, apart from stealing their paintings?'' Park was quoted as saying by the organizers.
Kim Sang-don presents ``Rose Island," an installation of photographs, videos and various objects, including a mirror and few grains of rice. In the videos, people's everyday routines seem trapped and repeated.
``Could even the seemingly useless gestures be considered meaningless? Sometimes, doing nothing can be the only mode of confrontation. I could intuitively see a certain rigor and craving among the people. If they are deprived of or even displaced from a verbal language, artists should suggest for them a different mode of articulation,'' Kim said in the exhibition statement.
Bae deals with the emotions of ordinary Koreans, especially the under-privileged. In ``Heart of Man,'' he tackles the sense of insecurity of young Korean men who struggle to find their own identity while serving in the military. His slide projection shows a military scrapbook, which are traditionally made by the servicemen of a unit to send off a fellow soldier who has completed his term.
Lim, known for tackling the themes of discontinuity and displacement in her works, is showing the installations ``Portable Keeper'' and ``S.O.S. Adoptive Dissensus'' for the exhibition.
Kim Beom's work ranges from drawings, text pieces and videos to animation, and focuses on subjects that relate to ``visible appearance and invisible substance.''
Aside from the exhibition, there was also a parallel educational program, ``Critical Visions from Mexico,'' featuring lectures, film screenings and guided tours at the museum.
The exhibition in Mexico is one of the international programs of Insa Art Space (IAS) that was integrated into the Arko Art Center in June. This was part of IAS' collaboration with Museum as Hub, an international art institutional network organized by New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.
Visit www.museotamayo.org, or www.newmuseum.org/learn/museum_as_hub.